Tag: baptism

Is Your Soul Capacity Full?

On March 16, 2022

In America we love to measure and keep account of things. It may be our finances, our career position, or even our bowling average (I think that’s what you call it). We love to count things to see if we are progressing and there is nothing wrong with that. However, when it comes to making time for new acquaintances we might be inclined to say “I have enough friends” or that there is “only so many hours in the day”. With the pressures of our family, our current friends, and other associates, we just might not feel we have extra time for a “new arrival” – in other words, we might feel that our soul capacity is full.

I remember researching about the hiring process when I was looking for a new worker in my business years ago. One piece of advice that I thought was pretty good (at the time) was to set an inopportune time for the potential hire to come in for a meeting; say, 6:00am. If the hire did not show up (or was late) you could immediately write them off of your list of potential hires.

This might be good advice for a boss who is looking for the most “productive” worker he can get, but I think it is terrible advice for a Christian looking to save souls. We must remember that everyone we meet is a soul that God created! That soul has the potential to end up either in Heaven or in Hell. We should not test people to see if they are “worthy” to hear God’s Word (or to be our Christian acquaintance). We should not “look” at them (or their background) to see if their personage qualifies them for Christian aid. That is how the “world” behaves, that is not how a Christian behaves. If someone wants to discuss Biblical topics we should be there for them at any time, no questions asked. As James said so eloquently:

Jas 2:2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

Jas 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

Jas 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

Does “being there at any time” mean you should just leave work to attend a Bible study with a potential convert? Does that mean you should just leave your wife (who happens to be in labor) to get to that phone call from a potential Christian? Not necessarily. It means you should enthusiastically let the potential Christian know that they are important to you and you should get back to them in a timely manner. Let them know that you want to help them as soon as possible and schedule a time to do so.

This same rule should extend to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. If someone needs something we should always be there to help. We may think, “this person is trying to use me”, or “I’m not a psychologist”, but the truth is that we cannot tell how much a person is in need by looking at them. That brother or sister may be in desperate need of advice or a Christian discussion. And of course this always goes for someone looking to become a member of the body of Christ…

We’ve probably all heard the story of someone calling up a preacher at midnight and saying “I’m ready to become a Christian!” The next part of that story is usually that the preacher gets up and goes to the church (no matter the time) and baptizes that individual. That is the exactly what should happen! In the case of someone seeking to be baptized we should always be there immediately. In addition, I hope that a part of that story is that the preacher (or Christian) shows up and does his duty with enthusiasm and joy. That is our purpose here, to obey God and to bring the lost to Jesus. Let us strive to never leave a soul out in the cold. Let us strive to never reach our “maximum soul capacity”.

Salvation by Calling On the Name of the Lord

By Jay

On August 3, 2021

In Bible & Doctrine

In today’s society it is far more common to hear about someone “asking Jesus to come into their heart” than it is to hear about the plan of salvation. This is a shame, because unless one fulfills all of the components of the plan of salvation one cannot be saved.

This “asking” of Jesus is often put forth as “calling on the name of the Lord.” We are indeed supposed to “call on the name of the Lord”, but in order to do so we must find out exactly what that means. Here is a verse from Acts 2 that seems to back up the fact that we simply call upon His name:

Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Peter here is talking to those at Pentecost and it seems that he has directly told them the key to salvation. But alas, just a few verses later we find that those at Pentecost asked Peter for further information. Why? It seems they must have sensed that there was a deeper aspect to this “calling on the name of the Lord.”

Act 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

According to most denominations Peter should have said, “I already told you what to do, call upon the name of the Lord and be saved!”

But he didn’t. This is what he said:

Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

It’s pretty simple really. In the middle of this century a lot of men “called on” a girl, which mean’t a lot more than walking up to the door and saying “Hey Mary Jo!” It meant he wanted to be their suitor – possibly ending in marriage. This “calling on” would include dates, dinners, conversations, and eventually the ceremony of the wedding.

Here Peter was telling those at Pentecost (those who were ready to accept the doctrine of the New Covenant) to “call on” the Lord. They instinctively knew (as mentioned above) that this meant more than just asking Jesus to save them. This is why they then asked Peter “what shall we do?”

Yes, they sensed that calling on the Lord meant a lot more than just saying “Lord, Lord”. By the way, didn’t Jesus tell us that?

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many critics of the Bible claim that the verses that say to simply “call on the Lord” to be saved (Rom 10:13, Joel 2:32) are contradictory with what Christ said in Mat 7:21. Indeed, these verses would be contradictory if one believed that calling on the Lord was the only necessary component to salvation.

Thankfully, we know that there are multiple meanings to statements (just like the ‘calling on’ dating example above) and the rest of the Bible clearly tells us every component of the plan of salvation. If one does the research and looks over the plan of salvation put forth by the church of Christ they will come away convinced of the true pathway to heaven:

First, you need to HEAR and BELIEVE, Rev 22:17, Mark 16:16, Acts 16:31; you need to REPENT, Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30, Luke 13:3; you need to CONFESS, Mat 10:32; Rom 10:10, you need to be BAPTIZED, Gal 3:27; 1 Pet 3:21, Acts 8:38-39, Col 2:12, Eph 4:5, John 3:5, Acts 22:16, then you need to LIVE FAITHFULLY 1 Cor. 15:58; Rom 6:1-2, Rev 2:10.

We should only trust the inspired Word of God when it comes to our salvation. We should never trust man to tell us the truth on these matters – we should always check the Bible for ourselves.

Peter was a man but on Pentecost he spoke with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Today, we have that same inspiration – and it is found in the Bible. Let us always use God’s inspired Word as our compass and North Star:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and isprofitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.